Furious passengers who were stranded othe Greek island of Zakynthos for 24 hours after their flight to Cork was delayed have vowed to lodge complaints to the Commission for Aviation Regulation.
The 180 passengers arrived at Cork airport yesterday at 8am, a full day after their scheduled arrival.
Panorama holiday reps informed passengers that the Eirjet flight could not take off from Greece because the plane had a crack in the windscreen and needed to be repaired.
Last month, the new Shannon-based charter company Eirjet came in for criticism after a series of flights to Cork from Malaga, Lanzarote, Greece and Turkey experienced delays of more than 20 hours.
One passenger, Joanne Cullen from Wexford, said yesterday that passengers on board the Zakynthos to Cork flight were outraged at the manner in which the situation was handled by holiday reps.
"It was absolutely scandalous. We were treated so badly. They gave us no information. We were treated like cattle. There were children screaming and crying. We stood our ground and wouldn't move until they put us up in a hotel."
Finbarr Santry, from west Cork, said the ordeal didn't end for passengers when the plane finally got off the ground.
"They had no food on the plane for us coming back. We just had one cup of tea. We were told to fill in a complaint forms, but there weren't any available."
Cork Fianna Fáil TD, Noel O'Flynn, recently lodged a complaint to the Commission for Aviation Regulation after several Eirjet flights experienced long delays in returning from popular holiday destinations.
Eirjet failed to return calls made to the company yesterday. However, a spokesman for Panorama Tours apologised for the latest flight delay, saying the plane had a broken windscreen that needed to be fixed.
"As the safety of our customers is paramount, the Eirjet aircraft flew empty to Verona in Italy, where a replacement windscreen was sourced and fitted. The aircraft then returned to Zakynthos.
"Our customers were all taken back to the resort for the day, allocated hotel rooms and provided with lunch and dinner."
A spokesman for the Commission for Aviation Regulation said yesterday that the first point of contact for delayed passengers should be the airline concerned.
He added that only after an airline has failed to meet its obligation to pay compensation, or provide assistance, should a complaint be submitted to the Commission for Aviation Regulation.